Apple published an ad for the iPad Pro, their newest in the line of Apple products. In the ad, various objects are crushed under a hydraulics press. When the press is lifted, only the iPad Pro remains. Surprisingly, the immediate response to this ad was so massive, the ad only remained on air for 2 days.
Good idea, bad execution
It was a cute idea. Hydraulic press videos are all the rage on social media. And the new iPad’s (only) major selling point is its size. In the video, various objects related to creativity are being crushed. A piano, paint cans, a computer with editing software, DJ-equipment, a drawing table, notebooks, and an arcade machine. Basically, anything that the iPad can replace. Then, the press is lifted and all that remains is the iPad Pro, the most powerful one yet, but also the thinnest one yet. So why are people so angry about this? The public response was expressed as a feeling of ‘discomfort’. Many creators on YouTube and other platforms felt a certain level of unease when watching the ad for the first time. Michael Knowles, in his podcast for DailyWire+ described the ad as “creepy.”
Public response: rightfully critical or overdramatic?
The public consensus was that the video was dystopian in its nature, and that the ad promoted the destruction of human creativity in favour of capitalist tools and hardware. Some drew parallels to the current inherent fear, experienced by all in the creative sectors of the world, that AI is taking over. There were also many who compared the Apple Macintosh ad to one directed by Ridley Scott for the 1984 Super Bowl, which directly plays on the dystopian themes explored in George Orwell’s book ‘1984’. In the ad, a colourful, vibrant person breaks the monochrome industrial setting. People on social media think that the new Crush! is the exact opposite. People also commented on Apple possibly plagiarising an LG ad from 15 years ago, which utilised the same tropes.
Apple has commented on the backlash, acknowledging that the ad has “missed the mark”, and it was subsequently removed from live television. The ad does still exist online, but with comments turned off. Although the initial response from people was largely unified, many in the tech world have since started to calm down a bit. The sentiments opposing the rise of AI are possibly a bit high-strung. Many admit that the idea of the ad is not bad, but that the style is questionable. The darkness of the video and sequence of events gives it that creepy nature. Of course, as is the nature of the internet, there are also many who responded to the responses (still with me?). People are finding the public response over-exaggerated and dramatic. Katie Notopoulos from Business Insider said it best: “(…) the reaction to this ad feels like a knee-jerk sentiment that anything tech is bad and anti human. Sometimes that’s true! But sometimes … an iPad is just an iPad.”